What role did home court advantage play in Celtics-Wizards?

The pregame ritual has been the Cavs' signature since LeBron James and Damon Jones cooked it up during James' rookie year in 2004. I just think a lot of people are writing off the Celtics too easily.

Season series: Cavaliers, 3-1. "They fly around and can cover for each other with their savvy and understanding better than most teams, especially young teams".

So while the T-shirt was for his alma mater, Akron's St. Vincent-St.

Every game in this series was won by double-digits except for Game 6.

But, also, we have to mention that this happened after Rajon Rondo got injured. "And when we have to mentally focus on our challenges that we have every game".

Last night, the Boston Celtics defeated the Washington Wizards 115-105 to win the series (4-3).

James is aiming for his seventh consecutive trip to the Finals - a streak shared by only Bill Russell and other members of those famed Celtics teams in the '60s - and he'll have to go through Boston again to get there.

James, never afraid to tweak the noses of another team - remember that Ultimate Warrior shirt he wore as he disembarked from the team charter plane after the Cavs beat Golden State in the Finals previous year? - during practice wore a black, sleeveless Akron St. Vincent St. Mary shirt with a fighting leprechaun pictured on the front.

The extra time off certainly did something for James during the regular season when he took a few games to get a little R&R. Here are four things the Celtics can do to dethrone the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals.

Gibson scored 31 points in the Cavaliers' series-clinching win over the Pistons that night, including 19 in the fourth quarter. Our fans are not going to be behind us throughout the game, so we have to bring our energy, which I think we will.

Isaiah Thomas topscored for the Celtics with 29 points and weighed in with 12 assists while Al Horford (15), Jae Crowder (14) and Marcus Smart (13) also made double figures. I love that the Cavaliers are getting as much rest as they need, but I'm also getting a little stir insane watching all these other teams play playoff basketball while the Cavs are just waiting.

Irving keyed a 14-2 fourth-quarter rally when he buried a step-back three-pointer and followed up with four free throws, as well as a pair of driving shots in the lane.

His play backed up his confidence and with the help of Kelly Olynyk and the Boston Celtics bench, Thomas earned the biggest win of his career.

"It's two different teams", James said when asked whether there was something to be gained from that victory. We know we have to play well to beat this team. "I don't take nothing away". He has averaged 16.1 PPG and 7.5 RPG this postseason and has a huge assignment in the upcoming series with the Cavaliers.

The Cleveland Cavaliers enter this series well rested having not played a game since since May 7, while the Celtics may be tired earning just one day of rest after their hard-fought series with Washington. They dropped the opening two games of their first-round series against the Bulls, and looked straight-up bad along the way. He's been an absolute stud this postseason, and his ability to stretch the floor has the potential to offset a matchup advantage the Cavs typically can exploit with Kevin Love and, to a lesser degree, Channing Frye. Love has averaged a quiet 13.8 points in the postseason but should be eager to pick it up against a Celtics team that knocked him out of the 2015 playoffs when he became tangled with Olynyk and dislocated his shoulder.